Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Local Government Finance

lord beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much revenue funding they have provided to English local authorities in each year since 2010.

viscount younger of leckie: Spending Power is our best measure of the resources which local authorities can access each year. The definition of Spending Power is not comparable over the period 2010-11 to 2020-21 due to changes in the finance and function of local government. A consistent measure of Core Spending Power is however available for the period 2015-16 to 2020-21. Please see a link to the CSP table on the Gov Website (attached): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-spending-power-final-local-government-finance-settlement-2020-to-2021 The full table is under ‘supporting information’.



Spending power
(Excel SpreadSheet, 1.9 MB)

Department of Health and Social Care

Occupational Health

lord blunkett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to invest in NHS occupational health services; and whether any such plans include procurement from private sector providers which have capacity to provide services.

lord bethell: Occupational health services are vitally important in keeping people healthy and safe in the workplace. The command paper, Improving Lives: The Future of Work, Health and Disability, committed to setting out a clear strategy for the future occupational health market reform. Following the Health is everyone’s business consultation published in July 2019, an upcoming response will outline future occupational health strategy.The health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff is very important. As part of the NHS People Plan, we plan to set out a comprehensive package of support that all NHS staff can expect to receive from their employer, including rapid access to occupational health services. Publication of the final NHS People Plan has been deferred to allow the NHS to provide maximum operational effort to COVID-19 response. However, we have commissioned the NHS to urgently put in place a package of support for NHS staff during COVID-19 response.

Coronavirus: Medical Treatments

baroness kennedy of cradley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of plasma transfusions from survivors of COVID-19 to patients in a critical condition.

lord bethell: There is emerging evidence from China of some effectiveness of using convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19. The Department and NHS Blood and Transplant are aware that research protocols are being developed to assess the possibility of using convalescent plasma from United Kingdom donors to determine its efficacy for treating COVID-19.

Coronavirus: Clinical Trials

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many patients in the UK are taking part inclinical trialsofCOVID-19 treatments and vaccines.

lord bethell: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) reports that as of 27 March 2020, 57 patients have been recruited to a clinical trial of treatments for patients with COVID-19 via the NIHR Clinical Research Network.

Coronavirus: Carers

lord mann: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the number of people providing informal social care who are paid in cash; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on (1) the provision of such care, and (2) the livelihoods of such carers.

lord bethell: The Department does not hold the data on the number of people providing informal social care who are paid in cash.To support those who have personal budgets during COVID-19, the Department is developing guidance on Direct Payments, along with question and answer guidance for those who hold budgets, which will be published at the earliest opportunity.We have announced £1.6 billion funding for local authorities to help support adult social care providers and staff to respond to COVID-19, and, are developing guidance for employers around redeployment of staff and the use of volunteers to help maintain the services that some of the most vulnerable in our society rely on.

Coronavirus: Screening

lord marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many tests for COVID-19 have been carried out; and what proportion of those have shown positive.

lord bethell: The Government is committed to increasing the capacity of testing to at least 25,000 per day for patients most in need.As of 9am on 6 April 2020, cumulatively across the United Kingdom, 252,958 tests have concluded. 208,837 people have been tested of which 51,608 tested positive. 5,373 of those hospitalised in the UK who tested positive for the coronavirus have sadly died.

Cabinet Office

Families

lord farmer: To ask Her Majesty's Government whethera Cabinet-level minister has been appointed to coordinate cross-Government policy to strengthen families; and if so, (1) who is that minister,and(2) what support that minister will receive.

lord true: Families are a responsibility for the whole of government and departments undertake the Family Test to assess the impact of policies on family relationships and functioning. However, families are at the heart of this government's agenda, and to reflect this a specific lead Cabinet-level minister will be appointed. This will be announced in due course.